Bihar government has implemented the Right to Information Act to make its functioning more transparent. State Administrative Training Institute Director General Ashok Choudhary said people of the state would now have full access to information about the functioning of various departments. The denial of information to a citizen by a Public Information Officer could lead to penalty and punishment, he told PTI.

What you should know about the Right to Information Act

Choudhary said many departments have appointed PIOs and Assistant PIOS after the Act came into being on October 12 2005. Secretaries of those departments who have not appointed PIOs so far have been directed to make the appointments at the earliest, he said. Three state ATI officers have been trained at the 'Yashda' institute in Pune.

They would now train PIOs and APIOs about the intricacies of furnishing information to the people, he said. As per the Act, the PIOs would have to furnish the requisite information to the person concerned within 30 days, failing which the PIO would be fined at the rate of Rs 250 per day.